World Magazine 2024
Are you looking for best motherboard for i5 4690k? The motherboard is the main component of any desktop PC. It must have a sufficient number of necessary connectors so that the user can install a powerful video card, a large amount of RAM and several drives. In addition, do not forget about the need to connect various peripherals. The best motherboards of 2024 are presented in our ranking.
The right choice of “mother” is the basis of a PC assembly: if a processor within one socket can be changed to a faster one if desired, memory can be increased, a video card can be replaced, then a motherboard usually lives in a case until a radical upgrade or serious breakdown. So you should choose a motherboard with long-term use in mind…
Although Intel’s proverbial love of regularly changing processor sockets without backward compatibility already leads to the fact that even a small upgrade forces you to change the motherboard along with the CPU. In this regard, AMD’s conservatism looks more reasonable
Intel Core i5 4690k is the unlocked variant of the Core i7 processor from the 9th generation and provides eight cores and since there is no HyperThreading involved, it provides eight threads as well. The best thing about this processor is that it is one of the fastest processors for gaming because of its high single-core performance.
Table of Contents
8 Best Motherboard for i5 4690k
1. ASUS PRIME Z390-A
The Intel Z390 chipset does not differ much from the previously released Z370 (well, this is more and more typical for blue processors, too). In fact, only support for USB 3.1 Gen 2 and CNVi controller has been introduced.
The ASUS PRIME Z390-A motherboard is capable of working with a wide range of Intel processors – from cheap Celerons to the ninth generation i9. The power subsystem is in nine phases, and the radiators are in contact through thermal spacers not only with MOSFETs but also with chokes. As an example to many “gaming” boards, regular VRM heatsinks are quite effective and are not mainly decorative “ingots” made of aluminum.
To build a high-performance system, the board offers everything you need: two M.2 slots for fast NVMe SSDs, 4 slots for DDR4 memory with a maximum capacity of 64 GB in total and an effective frequency of up to 4266 MHz, two full PCIe 3.0 x16 slots (the third works in x4 mode ) that support SLI for Nvidia cards and CrossFire X for Radeon video accelerators. The slots are reinforced with metal inserts and can easily withstand the stress of heavy cards.
The board offers excellent overclocking capabilities for K-series processors – the UEFI interface is rich in settings and intuitive. So for experiments and squeezing all the possibilities out of the system, it is no worse than for working at runoff frequencies. Additionally, we note the traditionally high-quality built-in sound path and, where can we go without it, the customizable RGB-backlighting system.
The main advantages:
- Supports processors on LGA 1151-v2 up to i9-9900K
- The presence of two slots M.2
Minuses:
- For overclocking the i9, taking into account its power consumption at 5 GHz, the VRM is still weak
2. GIGABYTE Z390 DESIGNARE
Opens our rating of motherboards for socket LGA 1151-v2 GIGABYTE Z390 DESIGNARE. So much has been tinkered with the design of this motherboard that, at first glance, it is even reflected in its name (in fact, designare is not from English design, but Italian “intended”) – but what about the physical content of the bright image? Well, the board is equipped with a 12 + 1-phase processor power supply powered by 8 + 4 pins and supports processors from Celeron G4900 (I wonder if someone will be able to plug this into the socket of a 20K board?)
To Core i9-9900KS. allowing up to four DDR4-4266 modules with a maximum capacity of 32GB each. There is support for Thunderbolt 3 (in two USB Type-C ports), two gigabit network controllers are built-in, Bluetooth version 5.0 and dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4 and 5 GHz). We spice it up with one or two M. 2 SSD is optional, but it is better to use one video card – only a single slot can work in x16 mode, two video cards will work as x8, and since the third bus version is used here, this will cut the speed of modern video cards. If there was support for PCI Express 4.0.
But for that you go to AMD. Slots x4 and x1 are also available. The “sixteenth” slots are reinforced and far apart (as far as the ATX form factor allows): if you want to use a discrete sound card, not trusting the “built-in” despite the proudly protruding “audiophile” capacitors, then it will be possible to install it without problems to cool the second video card into the bottom slot, and in a configuration with one video card – anywhere, except for the top slot x1, which the video card will naturally cover. but it is better to use one video card – only a single slot can work in x16 mode, two video cards will work as x8, and since the third version of the bus is used here, this will cut the speed of modern video cards. If there was support for PCI Express 4.0, but for that you go to AMD.
Slots x4 and x1 are also available. The “sixteenth” slots are reinforced and far apart (as far as the ATX form factor allows): if you want to use a discrete sound card, not trusting the “built-in” despite the proudly protruding “audiophile” capacitors, then it will be possible to install it without problems to cool the second video card into the bottom slot, and in a configuration with one video card – anywhere, except for the top slot x1, which the video card will naturally cover. but it is better to use one video card – only a single slot can work in x16 mode, two video cards will work as x8, and since the third version of the bus is used here, this will cut the speed of modern video cards. If there was support for PCI Express 4.0.
But for that you go to AMD. Slots x4 and x1 are also available. The “sixteenth” slots are reinforced and far apart (as far as the ATX form factor allows): if you want to use a discrete sound card, not trusting the “built-in” despite the proudly protruding “audiophile” capacitors, then it will be possible to install it without problems to cool the second video card into the bottom slot, and in a configuration with one video card – anywhere … except for the top slot x1, which the video card will naturally cover. since the third version of the bus is used here, this will already cut the speed of modern video cards. If there was support for PCI Express 4.0
The main advantages:
- Powerful power subsystem
- Thunderbolt 3 support
- Two M.2 slots (but working through the chipset and sharing resources with SATA)
- Fairly good layout of PCIe slots
Minuses:
- With so many physical PCIe lanes, 3-Way SLI support doesn’t make much sense
3. GIGABYTE Z390 AORUS PRO
This motherboard is the closest competitor to ASUS PRIME Z390-A. It is assembled on the same top-end chipset, supports all current processors on the LGA 1151-v2 socket, and the power subsystem is even more powerful due to the use of 13 phases (but more on that below) and an additional four-pin connector for connecting to the power supply. That is, in theory, it is already possible to easily drive the 9900K on it.
True, radiators cause certain concerns – there is a lot of metal in them, but the total area is not particularly inspiring. It looks like it’s not in vain that there are eight 4-pin connectors for cooling fans and two connectors for SVO pumps on the board – you should think at least about forced blowing of the VRM during serious overclocking experiments.
If you look closely at the board, you can understand that the marketers still had a hand in the circuitry: the power phases of the processor cores are actually paralleled in pairs. That is, a 6 + 1 phase with two parallel mosfets for processor cores on each would have the same efficiency, and it is this scheme that is supported by the ISL69138 controller installed here. But “13 Phases” sounds much nicer, right?
And the temperatures in the tests really prove the insufficient efficiency of the radiators without forced cooling: even at the runoff frequencies, the i9-9900K heats up the radiators to 75 degrees, while overclocking the temperature goes over a hundred. So replacing the radiators with the water blocks of the SVO in this case is definitely needed.
The main advantages:
- Powerful power subsystem
- An abundance of connectors for fans and pumps, with support for 3-pin voltage regulation
Minuses:
- Insufficiently efficient VRM heatsinks for overclocking top-end processors
- Inconvenient location of some of the fan connectors
4. MSI MPG Z390 GAMING PRO CARBON
MSI motherboard based on the Z390 chipset, that is MSI MPG Z390 GAMING PRO CARBON. As the name suggests, this motherboard is targeted towards gamers and is a lot cheaper than the previously mentioned motherboards. The motherboard does provide high-end features and the looks of the motherboard are much better than most other motherboards.
There is RGB lighting below the keyboard at the right side and also on the I/O panel cover. The M.2 slot and the chipset share a single large heat-sink, silver and black in color, where there is a dragon logo along with carbon texture. The PCB itself is black in color and the I/O panel cover has a carbon texture with a slight touch of silver.
The motherboard uses Realtek ALC1220P audio chipset, which is quite a good chipset and offers decent audio SNR. There are seven fan headers on the motherboard in total, which seem sufficient for even the most power-hungry components.
The VRM of the motherboard are good enough to handle the 9th-generation processors and even with overclocks above 5 GHz, the temperatures of the VRM components stay around 90 degrees, which is fine.
Pros
- Large M.2 slot heat-sink
- Reinforced DIMM slots
- Stable power delivery
Cons
- Absence of WiFi
5. ASUS PRIME H370-PLUS
Continuing our rating of the best full-size ATX motherboards for assembling systems from which you do not need to squeeze out the last drops of potential: whatever one may say, the maximum supported memory frequency is 2666 MHz. And the support for CrossFire X declared in it looks only like “so it was” – the second x16 slot has only 4 lanes. Initially, the board supported only the eighth generation of Intel processors, but by updating the BIOS to version 0904, you will be able to install at least i9-9900K.
Considering the “non-overclocking” of the chipset, the six-phase power supply subsystem is rather modest, but on processors with a nominal TDP of 95 W it copes with its tasks, and the temperature of the radiators remains at an acceptable level.
The sound is assembled even with Nichicon capacitors and competent track layout, but on the ALC887 codec – its capabilities will suit you if the insidious disease “audiophilia” has not yet grabbed you with its nosy paws. It is inconvenient to connect multi-channel acoustics, and there are enough connectors for a standard set of two speakers and a subwoofer.
The main advantages:
- Coffee Lake and Coffee Lake Refresh compatible
- Decent quality
Minuses:
- Budget codec with not the most impressive level of harmonic distortion and noise
6. MSI B360 GAMING PLUS
But not everyone needs top-end “stoves” as processors and extreme overclocking? Then let’s take a simpler motherboard: the “non-overclocking” B-series chipset and fewer VRM phases clearly hint at the limited capabilities of the MSI B360. And the maximum supported memory frequency is only 2666 MHz. Another thing is that for systems assembled on motherboards from this price range, faster memory still falls out of the assembly budget, and it does not provide any significant benefit.
The main connector for video cards is the upper one: of the two x16 slots, only it is connected directly to the processor, the lower one is tied to the chipset and physically has only 4 lines. But, again, hardly anyone will use two video cards on this board.
As for the rest of the hardware, the motherboard is also a typical “middling”, but its price is perhaps even high: there are competitors for similar money, but already on the Z370 chipset. Therefore, we will definitely lower the rating.
- Satisfactory VRM cooling for an adequate choice of processors
- Average sound quality compared to more advanced boards
- Weakly strengthening the connector for the video card
